Several million dollars’ worth of opiates and other narcotics, including what is alleged to be fentanyl, was seized last week in Mount Vernon following a joint investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New York Drug Enforcement Task Force (NYDETF), New Jersey State Police and the Westchester District Attorney’s Office, DA Miriam E. Rocah said today.
Approximately 25,000 pills alleged to be fentanyl, many marked “M30,” and an estimated 38 kilograms of alleged narcotics including heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl were found packaged and ready for sale in an apartment in Mount Vernon. In a contemporaneous search warrant executed at a residence in Yonkers, an estimated $35,000 in cash was seized. The substances have been sent to the DEA’s Northeast Regional Laboratory for analysis.
An individual was arrested in New Jersey by New Jersey State Police in connection with the seized narcotics, and was charged in Mount Vernon with two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, pending extradition to Westchester.
DA Rocah said: “Drug overdoses and overdose deaths are plaguing Westchester and our region. We are committed to doing everything we can to get drugs off of our streets and out of our communities and to help fight opiate addiction. We are grateful for the hard work of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force – including the DEA, NYPD and New York State Police – and the New Jersey State Police for helping us in this effort.”
DEA Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan said: “Two milligrams of fentanyl can cause death, and taking this large amount of fentanyl out of distribution has saved lives. This seizure is indicative of how traffickers are making street drugs highly potent and highly addictive by adding fentanyl. This is a warning that local traffickers vary methods of distribution, some selling only fentanyl and some selling mixtures of fentanyl and other drugs. Therefore, drug users beware, what you may think is one drug, is really laced with something more powerful and deadly.”
New York State Police Acting Superintendent Kevin P. Bruen said: “The relentless work and collaborative efforts of law enforcement at all levels has resulted in the seizure of millions of dollars in deadly drugs and the removal of a dangerous criminal who threatened the safety and security of our neighborhoods. We have zero tolerance for those who sell these deadly, illegal drugs.
